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Sunday, February 4, 2018

Separation Of Church And State

Separation
of Church and State, has been controversial since 1947. Some
have held that separation of Church and State had to do with having
both as separate entities, while others have prohibited the free
religious exercise of individuals in public places. Does the phase
separation of church and state have to do with not praying, reading a
bible, wearing religious clothing, etc, in public places. Does it
have a complete different meaning, than we are accustomed to today.
A closer look at the founding fathers, and when did the strict use of
this phase begin, will give us the answer to this question.

Separation
of Church and State, goes back to the Old Testament. Moses was
chosen as the law giver, in Ex. 20:1-17. Aaron on the other hand was
chosen as the first high priest in Ex. 28. This shows that God was
setting Moses over government and Aaron over the religious institute.
God wanted both offices to be separate. In 391 AD Emperor
Theodosius had combined both the church and state into one office.
During this time the church was in charge of the state and anyone who
did not go with the states religious belief was punished as if they
committed a crime. During the 1500's the reformers who followed the
Bible wanted to return to the Biblical separation of church and
state.

Our
founding fathers came from England. The Church Of England, was the
established religion in England. There was a controversy over
England proposing the first American Bishop to be in charge of the
British American Colonies. At the time, there were different
established denominations in America. We had the Congregationalists,
Puritans, Presbyterians, etc. Our founding fathers, did not want one
denomination chosen as the state religion. They did not want anyone
persecuted for their faith, just because they disagreed with someone
else' denomination. The also knew the Bible taught, the state and
church should be different entities. So they wanted the Separation
of Church and State.

It
is also important to note, that the term Separation of Church and
State, is no where listed in the Constitution. What you will
find in the Constitution, is that congress shall not pass any law
respecting an establishment of religion. Note the word respecting.
The state was not to choose one denomination over another. It did
not prohibit Americans from praying, reading a Bible, sharing the
Gospel, wearing religious clothing or any other expression of faith.
In fact the Constitution prohibited congress from allowing citizens
to freely express their faith.

Separation
of Church and State was a response that Thomas Jefferson wrote in
a letter to some Baptists in Danbury, CT. Thomas Jefferson's
religious views were different than those of orthodox Christianity.
He believed in the moral teaching of the Bible. He even believed
that the teachings of Jesus,"the
most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been
offered to man". However,
he did not believe in the miracles or anything supernatural in the
Bible. He didn't even belief in the doctrine of the Trinity, which
is the teaching that there is one God who consists of three persons
(The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit). He even created his own
bible, that had the moral teachings from the Bible, but left out
anything supernatural. As a result, the Baptist were concerned that
he would make the congregational church the state religion. So they
wrote him a letter, explaining their concern. He wrote back
affirming, that he believed that Government would not establish any
state religion. He was affirming that government and the church
would be two different entities, when he wrote back telling them that
there would be Separation of Church and State.

It
was not until 1948, that government refused to allow citizens to
exercise their religion in public places. A look at history shows
that before that schools were opened in prayer, ministers preached
sermons at the US Capital. In God we trust was on the first two cent
piece in 1864. Bible reading was allowed in public. Our founding
fathers never prohibited the freedom to express our religion. Even
Joseph Story, known as the father of our supreme court justice,
mentioned how we were a Christian nation. So why do we not allow,
Christians to freely express their religious beliefs today. The
answer is because we no longer have Separated Of
Church and State. Now
the state is telling the church, what it is allowed to do and what it
can not do. We now have the state running the church.

Ever
since 1847, when we misinterpreted Separation
Of Church and State,
we have seen an increase in crime. Since then our streets and
schools are filled with rape and violence. We have seen an increase
in family violence. The
following changes took place, when we removed The Bible and Prayer
from schools, in 1962

Violent
crime has risen by 350%

Criminal
arrest is up by 150%

Teen
Suicides are up 450%

Illegal
drug activity is up 6000%

Child
Abuse is up 2300%

Divorce
is up 350%

SAT
scores fell 10%

68%
of Americans believe it is ok to have sex outside of marriage

61%
of Americans claim it is ok to have a baby outside of marriage

63%
of Americans claim there is nothing morally wrong with being gay or
lesbian

and
59% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal

Our
morals have declined, in our nation, because of this interpretation
of Separation of Church and State. The only cure for our
nation is, “if
my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14.
We need to return to the
values and morals of our founding fathers. We need to repent of our
ways, make a decision to do what is right. Most of all we need to
become a Christian nation once again. That will only happen as we
all, ask Jesus to forgive us and make him the Lord of our lives. If,
from your heart, you will like to make this choice, repeat this
prayer.

Dear
Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for my sin. I believe
that you rose again from the dead. Forgive me for all that I have
done wrong. Come live inside of me. I chose to make you my Lord and
Savior. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.

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